Duck returns, Zura!
by MiriamTodd321
Summary: Fakir is trying to write a story to bring Ahiru back into her human form, but unfortunently, he can't seem to think of anything to write. His help arrives in the form a familiar green haired puppet
1. Fakir's Dream

**I do not own Princess Tutu. This is merely a FanFic based on my imagination of a good ending to the anime.**

_"Fakir. Fakir." Fakir woke up to see a figure with pink orange hair leaning over him. "Ahiru?" Fakir said, as he rubbed his eyes. "Of course silly. Were you expecting someone else?" Ahiru asked, giggling gently. He smiled, and leaned in to give her a kiss...then stopped as he noticed a hat appear on her head. A really familiar hat. "Ahiru? Where did you get that hat?" "Oh, this? I've had it for a while." She said as she removed the hat. Her hair had also changed, now it was white and curly. Fakir covered his eyes. I must be seeing things, he thought. When I removed my hand, she'll be back to normal. But when he removed his hand, Ahiru was wearing clothes that looked like they belonged to..Drosselmeyer? "Hey, wait a minute. Ahiru, why are you dressed like Drosselmeyer?" Fakir yelled. "What do you mean dressed as Drosselmeyer?" Ahiru said, but her voice had changed, and now it sounded like Drosselmeyer's. "I am Drosselmeyer!" She/He said, as Ahiru's face was replaced by Drosselmeyer's old face. Fakir screamed as the figure jumped at him. He closed his eyes and..._

He woke up to see a familiar yellow duck on his pillow. "Quack!" said Ahiru. Fakir blinked. "Quack quack quack quack quack!" Duck said as she flapped her wings. "Alright, alright. I'm getting up. Quiet down." Fakir exclaimed as he sat up. Shaking the images from the dream from his eyes, he went to his closet to find fresh clothes. Before he went left his room, he made sure to grab his pen and paper from beside his bed.


	2. A new story

"Quack quack quack." said the bird as she plodded down the stairs. "Are you ready for breakfast?" Fakir asked, as he bent down to pick upDuck. "Do you want bread?" Ahiru nodded, as Fakir set her down on the table. He picked up a loaf of bread, the broke off some to give to the duck. Ahiru happily munched down on the bread, the hopped over to the loaf and took another bite. "Hey, I need some too." Fakir exclaimed as he grabbed the bread away and sliced it. "You greedy bird, the least you could do is wait for me to-Ouch!" He removed Duck from his finger, chastising her all the while. "Why in the world did you bite me?" "Quack quack." "You keep quiet, and if you want any more food you have to ask nicely." Ahiru bowed her head sorrowfully. Fakir laughed gently, then patted her on the head. "Okay, I'll forgive you this time. Here, you can have some more." Ahiru quacked happily, then began to eat. After they finished their breakfast, he and Duck went down to the pond. He sat down with his story and began to write.

_Once upon a time, there was a duck who wished to save a prince who had lost his heart. An old man decided to let her become human, and a beautiful dancer known as Princess Tutu, who was able to return the pieces of the heart to the prince. _

Fakir had been writing the events of the past several months. All of Ducks' feeling and thoughts started to appear on the pages, things that Fakir had never even known about. _She thought I was mean and rude? _he thought as he wrote about his first experience with Princess Tutu. He had tried to get Mytho to shatter his heart, but Tutu had intervened. _It's lucky for all of us that she did. If not, who knows what might have happened? _He smiled as he wrote down silly things that Ahiru thought about. A blush started on his cheeks when he wrote about their journey to the underground caverns. She had turned into a duck right in front of him, then she turned back into a girl. _Unfortunently, as I recall, she was completely naked. And after that, somehow she would lose her clothes at the worse possible moment. At that was all thanks to Uzura. I wonder what happened to her. _Page after page was filled with the exploits of the girl as she worked to find the shards. _Speaking of Duck, where is she? _Fakir put down his papers and stood up. As he looked around, he couldn't see the yellow duck anywhere. "Ahiru?" he said. No response. "Duck?" Walking around the pond, he noticed yellow feathers leading into the woods. "Duck! Where are you!" he yelled as he ran into the woods.

_Where could she be? _he thought as he followed the feathers. _Could someone have taken her for her feathers? Or worse, for lunch? _Finally, he saw what seemed to be her tail sticking out from a bush. "Ahiru, are you okay?" He yelled as he ran over to her. When he picked her up, he noticed that her breathing was shallow, and she seemed to be wounded. He rushed her back to the house, and immediately started to treat her wounds. "Who could have done this?" Fakir said, seething with barely contained rage andpain. "Why would anyone want to hurt Duck?" "That's a good question, zura." said a voice from the doorway. Fakir turned in surprise to see...Uzura?


	3. A familiar puppet

Fakir blinked. Uzura looked completely different. She had grown almost twice as tall as before, and her shoulder-length green hair had been teased into spikes(think Buttercup from PPGZ, except green). Her poofy pink-and-purple bloomers had been replaced by leggings, she had a white t-shirt, and a red mini-skirt. "Fakir, are you going to just keep staring, zura?" Uzura said, as she waved her hand in front of his face. "Hello, anyone home zura?" Fakir jumped up and grabbed Uzura's hand. "What happened to you? Why did you disappear after the Duck defeated the Raven? Do you know what happened to Duck?" Uzura nodded frantically. "I'll explain everything, but first, please put Duck upstairs zura. I don't want her to hear what I'm about to tell you." Fakir nodded, then picked up the unconscious bird and took her upstairs._

Uzura sat down at the table across from Fakir. "I recommend getting something to calm you down before I start. You're going to need it, zura." Fakir sighed and went to fix himself and Uzura some tea. Once he was finished, he passed a cup to the puppet, who stared at the liquid in silent melancholy. "After the battle, I went with Drosselmeyer to keep an eye on him. Now that his greatest story was finished, he was starting to die, zura." "What do you mean started to die?" Fakir said, frowning. "He was supposed to be dead already." Uzura sighed. "When Drosselmeyer was killed, his story remained unfinished zura. Somehow, through his story's magic, he was able to stay alive. But now that it's finished, he didn't have much time left. So, while he was on his deathbed, he revealed a terrible secret, zura." She stopped to take a sip of tea. "He said that Duck is doomed to die." Fakir choked on his tea. "What! How can that be? " he yelled. Uzura wiped her eyes then motioned for him to be quiet. "Do you want to tell the whole town? Quiet down." Fakir covered his face. _Ahiru is going to die? _Fakir thought. _No. I won't let that happen. _"During the battle, while the crows were fighting her, she got stabbed by a crows' feather. Part of the Raven's essence went into her, and is poisoning her from the inside." Fakir gasped. "But, the Raven is dead. Right?" Uzura nodded. "As a doornail, zura. That's why she's dying. If he was alive, she'd be turning bad, like Mytho did zura." Fakir stood up abruptly. "There must be something I can do! I can't just sit back and watch her die! I won't!" Fakir ran out of the house and slammed the door, leaving Uzura in the kitchen alone._Fakir walked over to the pond, and got undressed. _Maybe a swim would calm me down, _he thought as he jumped into the water. As he swam throught the cool water, he thought about everything Uzura had told him. _She got stabbed by a crows' feather? Is there any way to save her? There has to be! _He climbed out of the pond and sat down beside his manuscript. _Curse that Raven! Even when he's dead, he still manages to wreak havok. _ _Maybe I can write something! _He picked up the pen and started to write.


	4. Of humans and puppets

By the time the sun went down, Fakir had succeeded in writing everything up to this morning. But when he continued to write, he saw Duck's thoughts coming through his pen.

_Today, Fakir decided to write again. He so quiet when he writes! I enjoy watching him. He also gets so absorbed in his writing that he forgets everything around him. I love swimming, but I don't really want to disturb him, so I'm going to take a walk._

_Ouch! What is this feeling? Oh, it hurts a lot! And my feathers…they're falling out! Is someone attacking me? Fakir…help me. Fakir…_

(This is just an abbreviated version about what Ahiru was thinking. She's a duck, and she gets distracted easily. Most of her thoughts were revolving around the different types of bread.)

Fakir stopped writing. _Was I too busy to keep an eye on her? _He thought._ I didn't even notice that she was gone for a while. _Sighing, he picked up his papers and went inside.

"How are you feeling, zura?" Uzura asked as Fakir walked inside. "I've calmed down a bit. What are you doing?" He asked, seeing her stirring something on the stove. "Cooking, zura. I don't need to eat but you and Duck do." She replied, she removed the pot from the stove. Fakir went to get a bowl and another piece of bread for Duck. "Why aren't you eating Uzura?" Fakir asked as he gave her his bowl. "I'm a puppet. I don't have to eat." She poured some stew in the bowl. Fakir thought back to the afternoon, when he had given her some tea. "Then, why did you drink the tea I gave you?" He asked. Uzura shrugged. "I don't eat a lot zura. I'm not human, but I'm not fully a puppet either. I can't go forever without eating and sleeping, but I can go much longer that any human zura. At least two to three weeks zura." Fakir nodded. "That makes sense. I'm going to go bring Ahiru down for dinner," Fakir said as he started up the stairs. "Don't forget to turn of the stove." Uzura immediately turned around to put out the small fire that had started on the stove.

"Duck, are you awake?" Fakir asked as he opened the door, then stopped in his tracks. Birds of all kinds were flapping about in the room, and Duck was one of them. "Hey, get out of here would you?" He said as he shooed the birds out. Then he turned to Duck, who had conveniently taken this moment to try to escape. "You aren't escaping that easily," Fakir said as he scooped up the small bird."You could have at least warned me. It's time for dinner." As he left his room, he noticed that Ahiru looked a little odd. About a third of her feathers were a pure white color, and her body was bigger. _I wonder if Uzura knows about this, _Fakir thought to himself. _Oh well, I'll ask her when we get downstairs._

_I'd better tell Fakir about the lake, _Uzura thought as she sliced bread. _He would want to know. _"Hey Uzura! Duck's awake!" said Fakir, bringing Uzura out of her thoughts. "That's great, zura!" She said, not bothering to turn around. "Do you want some milk? I'm getting some." She took a few glasses from the cupboard and started pouring milk in. "Uzura, can I ask you something?" "Sure, what is it zura?" she replied as she put the milk away. "Do you know why Ahiru's feathers are turning white?" Fakir asked. Uzura stiffened, then turned around. Her eyes widened, and she dropped the cups, which shattered as they hit the floor. "Hey, Uzura, what's wrong?" said Fakir. He put Duck on the table and went to grab a cloth, but stopped when he noticed that Uzura hadn't moved. "Uzura? Are you okay?" He asked, but Uzura put up her hand for silence. "We must leave immediately, there isn't much time! Pack some food, we have to get out of here!"


	5. The lake

"Leave? Why?" Fakir asked as he started to put some food in a bag. He sensed a note of urgency in Uzura's voice but he didn't understand why. The puppet grabbed Duck and ran outside. "Hey Uzura, wait up!" Fakir said as he followed behind her. Uzura ran to the back of the house to search for Fakir's horse, which was tied to a post. "Fakir! Come on, we gotta go zura!" Uzura yelled, as she started untying the reins. Fakir caught up to them and snatched the reins from her. "Uzura, we can't go anywhere until you explain what's going on." Fakir said as he rescued Ahiru from the puppet. _She seems even bigger now than before, _he thought. _And her neck is longer. _"We have to get to Lake of Joy as soon as possible zura! Duck is becoming a swan!" Uzura shouted as she tried to get on the horse. Fakir lifted her onto the horse, then gave her Duck. _The Lake of Joy? That's almost 5 hours away! _"What's wrong with that? She's getting older." Uzura shook her head quickly. "The minute she becomes a swan, she will vanish in a speck of light zura. Drosselmeyer wanted her to end the way Princess Tutu did, and the only way that we might have a chance of saving her is at the lake zura." Fakir's face paled as he glanced at Duck, who seemed to be sick. _She probably won't last much longer, _Fakir thought as he climbed onto his horse. "Uzura, give me Duck!" he said. Uzura gave him the bird, and he gently slid put her into the inside of his shirt. "Hold on tight Uzura!" Fakir said. He whipped the reins and the horse galloped away from the house, and out of the small town.

"Uzura, why didn't you tell me about Duck becoming a swan?" Fakir asked quietly. The gallop had slowed to a trot, and they had been on a forest path for almost two hours. Uzura had been quiet for most of the ride, the only sounds were the forest creatures and Ahiru's labored breathing. "I was going to tell you in the morning, because I didn't know how far along she was zura. I'm sorry zura." Uzura said. Fakir reached behind and patted her on the head. "It's okay Uzura, you did your best. Do you know how much longer Duck has?" Uzura closed her eyes. "Let's just get to the lake, the sooner the better zura." Fakir nodded, and nudged the horse to go faster.

_Uzura...Uzura. _Uzura woke up to see Fakir poking her. "I thought puppets didn't sleep much. We are almost there." Uzura rubbed her eyes, but couldn't see anything except a lot of fog. "Are you sure zura?" she said. "Yup." Fakir replied. "I've been here once with Charon. There's a bridge up ahead, and once we cross it, we'll be good." As they rode up to the bridge, Uzura noticed that she couldn't hear Ahiru anymore. "Fakir, check Duck zura!" Fakir looked down to a large head sticking out of his shirt. "Duck!" he said nervously. "Honk..." she said tiredly. _Honk? This is bad. _"Uzura, hold on!" Fakir said as he whipped the reins again. The horse started galloping as fast as it could towards the bridge. But then Fakir noticed that he couldn't see a bridge, and they were running full throttle towards the river! "The bridgge is out! Uzura, we're going to jump! Don't let go!" He said. The horse ran to the edge of the river before Fakir jumped it, and the horse leapt over the water. Unfortunently, Uzura didn't hear Fakir's warning and let go midway. "Fakir!" she screamed as she started to fall. Fakir turned around to grab Uzura, but let go of the reins to get better grip. The boy, the puppet, and the bird dropped into the river, just to get swept away by the current. Fakir grabbed Uzura, then grabbed at a rock that jutted out from the water as they floated by. He pushed Uzura onto the rock then pulled himself and Duck to the rock as well. Then they paddled to the other side.

"Remind me never to do that again Uzura." Fakir said as he laid down on the riverbank. "Next time, we are taking a boat." He sat up but he didn't see Uzura, or Duck for that matter. Then he heard Uzura's drum coming from up the river. He picked himself up, then started to follow the sound. He caught up with Uzura and Duck, who was slowly following Uzura towards the lake. Fakir stooped to pick up Duck, then grabbed Uzura's hand and started running to the lake. When the trio reached the lake, Fakir gently put Duck in the lake and stepped back, but he noticed that nothing was happening. "Uzura, I thought you said she could be healed in the lake," Fakir said, a note of panic in his voice. "What's wrong?" Uzura shushed him, then threw her drum on the ground with a crash. Suddenly, the drum changed into a box, that opened up to reveal gems of all sorts. Uzura bent down, and selected a yellow gem on a chain. "Put this around her neck, and hurry zura! She's flickering as we speak!" Sure enough, the swan started to glow with a beautiful light, but the light changed once Fakir slipped the necklace on her. The swan looked at him and uttered a _"QUACK!"_


	6. The bird flies

The swan slowly started to shrink, and her pure white feathers slowly got replaced by her sunny yellow ones. Her long neck shrunk, and her breathing returned to normal. Duck floated in the lake as her original form. "Duck! You're back!" Fakir cried as he went to get her, but was stopped by Uzura grabbing his hand. "Don't touch her zura." Uzura said quietly. "But why-" Fakir started but Uzura interrupted him. "Watch zura." Fakir turned to look towards the serene lake, and noticed that Duck was dancing! She lifted her wings towards the sky, and started to piroette. As she turned, he noticed that she was growing taller, and that the feathers on her head were becoming a pink-orange color. _She's becoming human again! _thought Fakir as a grin broke out on his face. But when he looked down, he noticed that Uzura's eyes were wet with tears. _I wonder why._ Fakir thought. _I thought she'd be happy._ A light drizzle had started, and Fakir thought that he had never seen a more beautiful dance.

By now Ahiru was completely human, but she was still changing. Her hair shortened, and by now half of it was white. She had a beautiful tutu, and a blue light was shining down on her. Quietly, she danced over to where Fakir and Uzura stood and curtsied. She smiled at them, but her eyes were also filled with tears. "Fakir..." Princess Tutu said quietly. "I'm no longer needed in this world." Fakir blinked, then looked at her quizically. "What do you mean you are no longer needed here?" Princess Tutu lowered her eyes, and her tears flowed down here cheeks. "The story is over. Princess Tutu is no longer needed here. It's time for me to leave." She turned around, and slowly started walking towards the blue light. "Wait!" Fakir shouted as he tried to run after her, but Uzura held him back. "I need you! Don't leave! Please don't leave!" Princess Tutu stepped into the blue light, and lifted her arms. "Goodbye Uzura. Goodbye Fakir. I loved you both with all my heart." She said. Then she slowly started to piroette. She started to rise into the air, while her piroettes steadily got faster. The blue light surrounded her, then she vanished in an explosion of light.

Back on the ground, Fakir was still in awe. _Is she really gone? Forever? _Fakir looked up, but didn't see Tutu or the blue light anywhere. _She really is gone. She confessed her love, and vanished in a speck of light, just like Drosselmeyer said. _Slowly, the tears that Fakir had been holding back spilled over and Fakir cried. He cried even more than when his parents died, more than when the knight almost killed Ahiru, more than when he wrote the story about her. He cried, and the sky cried with him, a light drizzle changed to pouring rain as his feelings poured out through his eyes. "Why? Why couldn't you stay with me?" Fakir shouted to the skies. "I wanted to protect you! I need you! I...love you!" Fakir dropped to his knees, his legs no longer able to support him. He was so grief stricken, he had forgotten about Uzura, who was standing with her box in the rain. She rummaged through the box, until she found a silver flute. She quietly walked to the center of the lake and started to play.


	7. The final chapter

_Uzura. _Uzura heard her name and turned to see a tall puppet standing over her. "It's the myself inside of me zura!" She said. Ms. Edel smiled, and patted her on the head. "Play your flute, Uzura. It's a gift from me to you." Then Ms. Edel disappeared into the rain. _Maybe some music will make Fakir feel better zura. _Uzura thought as she brought the small flute to her lips. She started to play a tune that she felt in her heart. As she played, she started to see the notes that she was playing. They were all different colors, and they flew into the sky like multicolored birds. _Wow, I didn't know I could do that, zura. _The rain started to slow down but still she played. Fakir heard a song in the air, and it made him want to laugh and cry at the same time. _It's really beautiful. Who's playing it? _he thought as he looked around. He saw Uzura at the center of the lake, surrounded by music notes of different colors. As she continued to play, Fakir felt more at peace, and he listened intently. _I wish this song would continue forever. _he thought.

Then, Fakir noticed a light shining on Uzura, illuminating the notes around her. _Where's it coming from? _Fakir thought as he looked up. It was still drizzling, but it seemed like the sun was coming out. He saw a small speck floating down as well, but he couldn't tell what it was. By now, Uzura's song had changed its tune. It was a happy song, and it made Fakir want to dance. He walked to the center of the lake and started to dance. He danced a _pas de deux _by himself, lifting up an imaginary partner and dipping her to the ground. He imagined that he was dancing with Duck, his favorite partner. When he stopped, he noticed that the floating speck was actually...Ahiru? She was in a tutu, with her long braid tied back in a bun. She was right beside Uzura now, and she bent down and kissed the puppet on her head. Uzura stopped playing, and hugged Duck tightly. Ahiru then turned to Fakir, who stared at her. "Are...you going to leave again?" he asked quietly. Ahiru smiled, then ran across the water into Fakir's arms, and he hugged her back. "I will never leave you again. Princess Tutu didn't belong here, her story was over, but our story has just begun." Duck said, as she gazed up at Fakir with her beautiful blue eyes. Fakir stepped back, and extended his hand to her. "Will you dance with me?" he asked. Ahiru nodded and took his hand. Uzura started to play her flute again, and the two dancers became surrounded by the notes once more. Fakir gazed down at Ahiru, who looked up at him. They leaned close together, and kissed, for the first time since that trailer in the Princess Tutu anime. They kissed, and fulfilled the wish of the Fakir fangirls all around the world. And they danced, because that's what ballerinas do.

"Grandpa, do you like what I wrote?" Nana said as she put down her pen. I picked it up and glanced over it. "Well, it's okay, but it should be more tragic." I said as I returned the paper to her. She giggled. "Oh, grandpa Drosselmeyer," she said as she hugged me. "You're so funny." I walked away grumbling. _I still wish she was a speck of light. _I thought as went to get my own pen and paper.

You didn't think I was really dead, did you?

**Thanks for reading till the end, faithful readers! I hope you enjoyed it! And I hope you enjoyed the twist at the end, that was to mess you guys up sorry. XD**


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